Fisk Waits, Wonders At Home

CLEVELAND — Carlton Fisk was home Tuesday night sorting out his feelings and waiting for Friday's deadline to see if any other were interested in claiming him on waivers.

His agent, Jack Sands, said he thought it would be early next week before Fisk knew whether he wanted to keep playing and whether anybody wanted to pay him to keep doing it.

"Pudge is on waivers until Friday, and obviously I don't expect anyone to show any interest until then," Sands said from Boston.

"It's too early for Carlton to make a decision. He does not want to go somewhere else just to hang on. He wants to play. He wants to contribute."

Sands said Fisk was at his home in Lockport and had taken his phone out of service to have some privacy in the wake of his release Monday by the White Sox.

"It's a very emotional situation," said Sands. "One thing I would like to emphasize is that Carlton is in this because he loves the game. That's the same reason that he sat in the stands (in Cleveland Monday night) and bought two hot dogs and a beer and watched the game.

"He doesn't need the money. He doesn't have anymore records to break. He just loves the game."

General Manager Ron Schueler said Monday when he released Fisk that he tried to trade the 45-year-old catcher. Schueler did say, however, that two teams expressed some interest in talking to Fisk and his agent.

"It was a lock. Everybody knew this was going to happen," said Sands. "So it isn't a surprise that nobody would want to trade for him."

Meanwhile, the prevailing sense in baseball's world seemed to be that Fisk's departure was sad but overdue. "He had a great career," said Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove, who is two years younger than Fisk. "He was one of the best, but his day has passed."